Page 58 of Paper Doll
Wes stomps back over from the kitchen with a huff, tossing his phone down on the coffee table in front of us. It lands with a thud and my eyes flicker down to it for a fraction of a second, then bounce back up to the TV screen.
“What’s that?” I ask boredly.
“Got it from one of the minions,” he replies, an edge of tension in his tone as he gestures to the phone. “See for yourself.”
I heave a sigh of annoyance as I toss my controller aside.He’d better not be wasting my time with this shit.
Leaning forward, I swipe his phone up, furrowing my brow in confusion as my eyes focus on the photo displayed on the screen. It takes my brain a second to even comprehend what I’m seeing.
When it does, though, an irrational rush of rage sweeps through me, my grip tightening around the phone and my jaw clenching. It’s a picture of a couple, their arms wound tightly around one another in an embrace. And though you can only see the back of the girl’s head, the little plaid skirt she’s wearing is a dead giveaway as to her identity.
“Who the fuck isthat?” I growl, squinting my eyes to try to make out the guy’s facial features in the grainy, long-distance shot.
Raf tosses his own controller aside and snatches Wes’ phone from me, peering down at the screen. The muscle in his jaw feathers, his nostrils flaring.
“Either of you recognize him?” Wes asks, his gaze bouncing between the two of us.
“No, but he’s a fucking dead man,” I mutter.
Raf draws in a deep breath through his nose, exhaling slowly as he leans forward to hand Wes his phone back. “Clearly the lesson we taught her on Friday night didn’t stick,” he says, his voice eerily calm. The way he can compartmentalize his emotions is truly a thing of beauty.
I, however, don’t have the same level of control.
Not evenclose.
“Who the fuck’s the guy, though?” I snarl, shooting to my feet and snatching Wes’ phone from him. “Everyone knows she’s Kings property.” I glare down at the picture, mashing a finger against the screen, right over his stupid face. “This motherfucker…”
“Doesn’t matter,” Raf snaps, cutting me off. He swipes the phone out of my hand and passes it back to Wes.
I turn my glare on him, mouth falling open. “Like hell it doesn’t!”
“Raf’s right, this is onher,” Wes murmurs, sweeping his hand over his chin in quiet contemplation as he examines the photo on his phone screen again. “She knew the rules, just like she knew what could happen if she broke them.”
“Exactly,” Raf agrees. He pushes up from the couch, and though he’s acting completely calm and composed right now, his shoulders are bunched, his posture tense.
“So how are we handling this, then?” I ask as my head swivels to look between them, fury still simmering beneath my skin like a living, breathing thing.
I suddenly want to break something.
Maybe someone.
Starting with the douchebag in that photo, preferably.
“Looks like we’ll have to remind her who she belongs to,” Raf replies ominously. “Something more…permanent.”
I snap my head in his direction, my upper lip curling back from my teeth in a maniacal grin as the meaning of his statement registers. “Are you saying…?”
His eyes lock with mine and he gives me a single nod. “Get your gun.”
CHAPTER 26
RAF
The soundof our footsteps echoes through the fourth-floor corridor of Sutton Hall as me and my boys make our way toward Ava’s dorm, my heart pounding as I flip the master key between my fingers idly. It’s a skeleton key that grants us access to every locked door on this campus, passed down between Kings, and this isn’t the first time we’ve used it to gain entry into Ava’s room.
I’m still seething after seeing that photo. Ava ismineto use and abuse,mineto destroy. Ford and Wes can have their fun with her, but only becauseIallow it. As soon as she walked onto this campus, she relinquished her autonomy, and her fate became mine to control. How dare she think she can openly gallivant around with some random asshole when she belongs tome?
When I arrive at the door to her dorm room, I don’t even have to use the master key to gain access. I try the handle and it turns, the door swinging open and colliding with the wall behind it loudly. Ava is at her desk studying, Richelle kicked back on her bed reading a book. Both of their gazes pinging in my direction at the loud thump of the door hitting the drywall.
